Search form

D.A.T.E. 2018: Beer passion and limitless creativity

CategoriesD.A.T.E.

TagsD.A.T.E. 2018, art, beer

You would think that after discovering the city for four straight days, there would be some yawns and tired faces. Quite the opposite: D.A.T.E. got all our senses wide awake thanks to contagiously creative and enthusiastic people and places.

Follow your dreams

A brewery visit will never be the same after discovering the Antwerpse Brouwcompagnie ("Antwerp Brewing Company"). It is the dream come true for Johan and his wife Karen. We hung on every word of this founding father of the revived Seefbier - a long lost beer named after one of Antwerp's most notorious hoods. This beer and the quest Johan went on - 6 years ago - to discover its secret recipe should actually be put into a movie script. From the very first steps of the adventure, the perfect gathering of his two passions - beer and Antwerp - to crowdfunding his own brewery in the middle of the vibrating area of 't Eilandje in 2017. Really, go and listen for yourself, it’s pure life inspiration.

A tasty ecological tour

Johan proudly showed us around the brewery, which is in an open space connected to the bar so you get a really special urban - mixed with some industrial - vibe, accompanied by the brewing aroma. While we are being led through the whole process of beer magic, it’s the little things that make this small brewery different and so likeable. Nothing is put to waste: what’s left in the filters can be re-used as cattle food. The chimneys you see don’t go outside because they are just decoration: the steam is not pushed into the air but, thanks to a condense system, used again to warm up other parts of the brewing process. All green electricity, all efforts to make that small contribution to our environment. And of course we got to taste the different beers, that all taste like heaven. And passion. Or that could've been Johan’s enthusiasm wearing off on us as well...

Timecircus thrills

All warm inside, we headed over to Bar Paniek. Which is a bar with a nice harbour view, but also so much more, thanks toTimeCircus. Bram welcomed us and explained the story behind the huge hangar filled with, well… about almost everything. TimeCircus is an art collective that originated in 1998 as a project for which 18 friends made a trip through Europe for eight months. They worked together with local artists and ever since TimeCircus is a collective that builds stuff. Everything and everywhere. Be it their enormous landship or a vehicle hosting an entire orchestra featuring room to sleep as well. Mindblowing stuff. As Bram told us, all these constructions are built according to the same ideology: always everything for people by people and always with recycled materials.

So, day 4 of D.A.T.E. 2018 was again about meeting precious Antwerp people that make the world a better place through passion and love for life. Which gets the adrenaline flowing and creativity going.